Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts · 2017-05-23 · Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts 4 Executive Summary In December of 2006, a Hollywood feature film called Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts

Kelly Babcock and Maja Cholich School of Public Policy and Administration

Carleton University, Ottawa

Prepared for the Annual Conference of the Canadian Evaluation Society Winnipeg June 4-6, 2007

Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts 2

For further information on this paper, please contact Kelly Babcock at [email protected]

Maja Cholich is a first-year student in the MA program in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. She recently served as a Research Assistant with the Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program (CEDTAP), and is working in the Africa Branch at CIDA this summer as a junior development officer. She obtained her BA at Carleton University in Public Affairs and Policy Management. Her research interests include human security, international development and program evaluation. Kelly Babcock is a second-year student in the M.A. program at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. She has previously worked in NGO program management and administration, and currently serves as Research Assistant on an evaluation project with the Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program (CEDTAP). After gaining her B.A. at the University of Victoria in 2000, she worked with several NGOs in the field of international and environmental issues, including a year in rural Kenya with the Aga Khan Foundation. Her research interests include sub-Saharan Africa, civil society, access to essential medicines, and complex emergencies. She currently sits on the MAPA Student Society as the representative of the Development Stream.


Table of Contents Executive Summary.............................................................................................................. 4 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 6 1 Logic Model/Results Chain.......................................................................................... 7

1.1 Blood Diamond: The Film ................................................................................... 7

1.2 The Evaluation..................................................................................................... 8

2 Evaluation Methodology: Strategies for Assessing Effectiveness .................................. 9 Preliminary Findings from Pilot-testing the Evaluation Methodology................................. 14

2.1 The Policy Pathway ............................................................................................ 14

2.2 The Public Awareness Pathway .......................................................................... 16

3 Implications and Recommendations for Practitioners ................................................ 19 3.1 Implications of the Blood Diamond experience ................................................. 19

3.2 Recommendations for Practitioners ................................................................... 21

Appendix A: The Logic Model ........................................................................................... 24 Appendix B: Detailed Summary of Findings....................................................................... 25

Case Study – Detailed Summary ..................................................................................... 25

Focus Group – Detailed Summary ................................................................................. 26

Appendix C: The On-Line Survey ...................................................................................... 27 Appendix D: The Movement Surrounding the Film ........................................................... 29


Executive Summary

In December of 2006, a Hollywood feature film called Blood Diamond opened in

theatres across North America, telling the gripping story of two men from different worlds

caught up in the conflict diamond trade in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Made by a director

who has since spoken out on the issue of conflict diamonds, and starring actors (most

notably Leonardo DiCaprio) who have also engaged in some related advocacy, this film, like

others of its genre, seeks to tell a story of injustice as well as make a profit. This report

describes a preliminary attempt to assess the impact of this film in advancing one of the

main objectives of the conflict diamond movement: strengthening the Kimberley Process

Certification Scheme.

The evaluation was conducted by outlining a theory of change which illustrated the

predicted outcomes of the film. This theory of change can also be referred to as a logic

model; simply put, it outlined the major input (Blood Diamond) and then followed the

predicted outputs (viewing of the film and the ensuing public and industry reactions) and,

finally, connected these outputs to the long term outcome (strengthening the Kimberley

Process). The logic model and all of the predicted outcomes it described were then tested by

using qualitative and quantitative research methods. The logic model was tested through a

key informant interview, a case study, an on-line survey, a focus group, store visits, website

traffic count and blog review.

Our findings show that the diamond industry was very concerned about the impact

of the film on their reputation. This anxiety translated into significant policy impact due to

the fortuitous timing of Blood Diamond, which was approaching at a time when the Kimberley


Process was thought to be in danger of collapse. The compromises and agreements reached

at the November 2006 meeting of the Kimberley Process members were unexpected and

hopeful. One key informant, who was involved in this process, gives the majority of the

credit for this success to the pending release of the film.

Furthermore, our preliminary findings show evidence that the diamond industry had

good reason to be concerned about public response to the film. A majority of our

respondents were inclined to reconsider purchasing or receiving diamonds if they had

previously been considering it, and to discuss this issue with family or friends. Viewers were

left with little faith or understanding in the Kimberley Process and the majority did not seek

out further information on this issue. This raises the potential unintended outcome of

damage to the now conflict-free Sierra Leonean diamond trade, which largely consists of

small-scale diamond diggers.

It is clear from our study that the impact of Blood Diamond on strengthening the

Kimberley Process was due both to the timing of the film and the way it was able to link to

the extensive work of several NGOs in engaging the diamond industry on this issue. While

diamonds are a unique commodity, as are the circumstances of the film, we conclude the

report with recommendations based on this experience for those considering using film to

advance an advocacy cause, as well as those wishing to evaluate the impact of such films in

the future.


Introduction

What are conflict diamonds?

According to the United Nations, conflict diamonds “…are diamonds that originate

from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally

recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those

governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.”1 Some experts

estimated that such diamonds accounted for 15-25% of the world’s diamond supply during

the mid and late 1990’s. The most serious and well documented links between diamonds and

civil war were found in Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic

Republic of the Congo.

The British non-governmental organization (NGO) Global Witness is largely

responsible for bringing the issue of conflict diamonds to the public’s attention with their

1998 report A Rough Trade, which exposed the link between diamonds and civil war in

Africa.2 Once the issue had been made public, it threatened to exert negative impacts on the

multi-billion dollar diamond industry. With major revenue at stake, the diamond industry,

together with governments and NGOs, began to negotiate a solution to the problem of

conflict diamonds. A series of meetings which began in 2000 created the first regulatory

process for the diamond industry called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme

(hereafter, the Kimberley Process).

1 U.N. Document, Conflict Diamonds, Online. 2 Global Witness, http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/90/en/a_rough_trade


What is the Kimberley Process?

Implemented in 2003, the Kimberley Process is an international governmental

certification scheme which requires all participating governments to certify that their

shipments of rough diamonds are conflict free. The Scheme was designed to ensure that

conflict diamonds do not enter the legal market and that only Kimberley Process participants

trade diamonds with each other. Currently, 71 countries have passed national legislation

which has made the Kimberley Process legally binding, which in turn has led to a very

significant alleviation of conflict diamond problems. Today, less than 1% of the world’s

diamond supply is believed to come from conflict zones.3

1 Logic Model/Results Chain

1.1 Blood Diamond: The Film

What happened next?

For the most part, the Kimberley Process functioned well. However, in 2006 the

Kimberley Process came under serious criticism from NGOs, particularly Partnership Africa

Canada (PAC), which published a report entitled Killing Kimberley? Conflict Diamonds and

Paper Tigers. This report exposed many of the problems associated with the Kimberley

process, and identified several countries from where conflict diamonds continued to flow

into the legal market. The report concluded that, if serious action was not taken by

Kimberley Process participants, the entire scheme was at risk of collapsing. That year at the

Kimberley Process meeting, PAC was pessimistic about the future of Kimberley. However,

by the end of the meeting, all of PAC’s hopes had been fulfilled. All forty-three

recommendations of the Three Year Review were accepted, Ghana’s diamonds were banned

3 World Diamond Council, http://diamondfacts.org/


and it was recommended that the country seriously tighten its internal Kimberley

mechanisms with support from other members, and a review mission was scheduled to visit

Venezuela. NGO officials were pleasantly surprised by the diamond industry’s willingness to

comply with the necessary measures.

Why was the industry so willing to make changes?

In the fall of 206, the release of Blood Diamond was pending. The film -- starring well

known Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connolly and Djimon Hounsou -- is

the dramatic story of a diamond smuggler and a small-town Sierra Leonean father whose

fates tragically cross. The movie vividly and violently illustrates the diamond fuelled civil war

in Sierra Leone, and its horrific impacts on the civilian population. It also paints a very

unflattering picture of the diamond industry, which might explain why industry officials

unsuccessfully tried to influence the outcome of the film.4 Once that had failed, complying

with Kimberley Process improvements could have been an alternative way of mitigating any

negative publicity generated by the movie.

1.2 The Evaluation

Why was it conducted and what did it intend to accomplish?

The present evaluation was conducted in order to examine and illustrate the effects

of the film Blood Diamond on the movement against conflict diamonds. It was carried out in

order to assess the film’s impacts and test the links between the film and the public, diamond

industry, NGOs and the Kimberley Process. A very small-scale effort, this study could be

called a “mini-evaluation”, which also sought to test a group of research methods and

generate preliminary findings at the same time.

4 Interview with Ian Smillie, Partnership Africa Canada


How was it conducted?

The study was conducted by outlining a theory of change which illustrated the predicted

outcomes of the film. This theory of change can also be referred to as a logic model. The

model outlined the major input (Blood Diamond) and then followed the predicted outputs

(viewing of the film and the ensuing public and industry reactions). Finally, the model

connected these outputs to the long-term outcome (strengthening the Kimberley Process)

(Appendix A). The logic model and all of the predicted outcomes it described were then

tested by using qualitative and quantitative research methods, on a small scale.

2 Evaluation Methodology: Strategies for Assessing Effectiveness

How did we test our logic model?

Key Informant Interview

A key informant interview is an in-depth qualitative interview with someone who is

well versed in the social phenomenon that the researcher wishes to study and who is willing

to tell the researcher what he/she knows5.

In this instance, the key informant interview was two hours in length and occurred

on March 7th 2007 with Ian Smillie. Mr. Smillie is the Research Coordinator at Partnership

Africa Canada and has been researching and writing about the issue of conflict diamonds for

many years. Partnership Africa Canada works in conjunction with organizations in Africa,

Canada and internationally to build sustainable human development in Africa.6

5 Babbie and Benaquisto 493 6 Partnership Africa Canada, http://www.pacweb.org/


Due to the time limitations associated with this action-research project, the

researchers were only able to interview one key informant. Under different circumstances it

is recommended that researchers interview several key informants and a variety of

stakeholders within the field. In this instance, such informants could have included diamond

industry officials, academics, development practitioners, and if possible, the actors from the

film. Interviewing a broader range of people would allow the researchers to understand all of

the stakeholders involved and their perspectives regarding the issue.

Case Study

A case study is a focused, detailed investigation of a single social phenomenon or

person.7 For this evaluation, the case study subject was a 29 year old male who was asked to

speak about his reaction to the film Blood Diamond. The subject does not work or study

within the field of international development, so it was felt by the research team that in

terms of previous knowledge about the issue, he would represent the general viewing public

well (Appendix B).

Again, the time limitations of the present research project prevented the researchers

from conducting further case studies which would have been useful in gathering a more

complete understanding of the impacts of Blood Diamond on its audience. With more time,

researchers should conduct case studies on a wide variety of people of different genders, age

groups, ethnic and religious affiliations, and professions. Several in-depth case studies would

allow the researchers to generate a wide range of information on the exact impacts of the

film on various segments of the general viewing public and allow the researchers to better

understand the different ways individuals are affected by the film.

7 Babbie and Benaquisto 489


Focus Group

A focus group is an interviewing method where a number of subjects are brought

together to discuss a specific topic or issue and it is typically led by a moderator who helps

facilitate the discussion.8 For this action-research project, a focus group was conducted with

four 18 year old males. The focus group participants viewed the film Blood Diamond, and were

then engaged in a discussion by the facilitator (Appendix C).

There were several limitations with the focus group as it was conducted. For one

thing, all of the focus group participants knew each other and the researcher very well, which

may have contributed to the lack of serious consideration and discussion on behalf of the

participants. The focus group clearly illustrated that depending on the circumstances and

audience even films which deal with serious issues may not have the desired social impact on

every person. However, the experience of the 29 year-old case study subject, who described

a similar response at a young age, suggests that an initial exposure to the topic may (despite

appearances) have a long-term influence.

With more time, it is recommended that several focus groups be held and that the

participants be chosen at random and not be familiar with each other or with the researcher

conducting the focus group.

Sample Survey

A sample survey is a qualitative research tool that targets a particular segment of the

population, poses closed-ended questions and is used to gather a wider sample of data. Our

survey instrument was created using Survey Monkey9, a web-based tool that helps users

create their survey, provides a web space which hosts the survey, and tabulates participants’

results as they become available. The survey included ten questions and was targeted at 8 Babbie and Benaquisto 492 9 www.surveymonkey.com


people who had already watched the film Blood Diamond in order to gauge their reaction to

the film and its further impacts (Appendix D).

The time limitation prevented the researchers from distributing the survey to a large

number of people and thus obtaining a large number of respondents. Further research could

experiment with handing out the online address for the survey to people as they exit the

movie theatre, posting a link to the survey on a particular website (MySpace, or an NGO’s

website), or asking the movie theatre to hand out copies of the survey link to people when

they purchase their movie ticket. These types of activities would ensure that a larger number

of responses are collected from the target audience.

Site Visits

On March 7th 2006, the researchers made in person visits and conducted short

interviews in four jewellery stores at a major shopping mall in Ottawa. The researchers

interviewed retailers in order to gauge their understanding and knowledge of the Kimberly

Process and to assess the extent to which the retailers are able to handle questions regarding

conflict diamonds.

These visits allowed the researchers to better understand whether the film Blood

Diamond appeared to have any effects on diamond sales, or on diamond sales people, or

whether diamond retailers had noticed an increased concern about conflict diamonds from

their customers.

With more time it would have been beneficial to visit more jewellery stores in various

locations around the city. Visiting one mall is useful, but it may not be representative of the

entire retail industry. Even if it was found that more prominent stores within the downtown

core have more senior and knowledgeable staff, this does not justify the lack of knowledge

found at satellite locations.


Another possibility for further research would be for the researchers to accompany

genuine customers as they pursue their diamond purchase. This may result in more realistic

answers from the sales personnel during a potential sales transaction.

Website Hits

Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) put up a temporary “conflict diamonds” site in

preparation for the release of Blood Diamond. Unbeknownst to PAC, the Warner Brothers’

official website for the film included a link to PAC under “Learn More About Conflict

Diamonds” (as well as to Global Witness and the World Diamond Council).10 Tracking web

site hits is a good indicator of the impacts of the film since they clearly illustrate an increased

demand for and interest in information on a particular subject. In this case, if an increased

demand came directly after the movie’s release, it could be reasonably deduced that this

increase was caused by the film. Researchers doing further studies could look for more

detailed information regarding the activities of visitors to the site.

Blog Search

Blogs which deal solely with the issue of conflict diamonds could not be found.

However, many bloggers reviewed, spoke about and shared their reactions to Blood Diamond.

It is interesting to note that several bloggers reported that they felt helpless regarding the

conflict diamond issue after the movie, but said they were greatly moved by the story of

child soldiers depicted by the movie. Some bloggers urged their fellow readers to donate to

NGOs helping alleviate this problem.11 This is a one example of advocacy spurred by the

movie.

10 http://blooddiamondmovie.warnerbros.com/main.html 11Blog, http://viewfromthebasement.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/b lood_diamond.html


Movie production and

distribution

Diamond industry anticipates public

awareness and bad publicity

Diamond industry responds to NGO pressure and re-affirms Kimberley

ProcessKimberley Process

strengthened

NGO pressure on diamond industry

Preliminary Findings from Pilot-testing the Evaluation Methodology

2.1 The Policy Pathway

Since the production of the film Blood Diamond was publicly announced, a chain of

events has emerged which appears to have had a direct impact on the governing of the

Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

What was the diamond industry’s initial response to the film?

Evidence that the diamond industry was concerned about the impact of the film

comes from statements and activities of industry representatives. ABC News Online

reported that the World Diamond Council planned to spend $US15 million on an awareness

campaign in anticipation of the release of the film. They quoted a De Beers representative as

saying that the film was "absolutely a concern for us", while the World Diamond Council’s

president stated that they would not "allow conflict diamonds to sully our reputation”.12 The

industry created a new website (www.diamondfacts.org) to emphasize the benefits of the

diamond industry and the importance of the Kimberley Process. According to Partnership

Africa Canada, industry representatives urged the director of Blood Diamond to change

12 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1776141.htm


some of the content of the film after they read the script.13 Significant changes were not,

however, made to the film.

What was the impact of the film on the Kimberley Process?

As the November 2006 meeting of the Kimberley Process approached, Partnership

Africa Canada published a report expressing serious concerns that the Kimberley Process

was in danger of collapse, and there were serious outstanding problems with the Process that

had not been resolved.14 However, the meeting proved to be very successful, with important

compromises made amongst the member countries of the Kimberley Process. Partnership

Africa Canada (PAC) reports that the diamond industry supported PAC’s position and

encouraged member governments to solve these issues and restore the integrity of the

Kimberley Process, driven largely by their desire to mitigate any negative publicity from the

film.15 Major diamond companies have also expanded their financial support for the PAC-

related Diamond Development Initiative.16

While the corporate management of the diamond industry has been publicly and

privately responsive, our interviews with local diamond retailers suggest that awareness and

receptivity to the Kimberley Process has not reached the staff who interact with customers

purchasing diamonds. Based on this field experience, retail staff are not yet a source of

information or education for the diamond consumer in terms of the Kimberley Process. It is

interesting to note that an in-depth research study done by Global Witness involving 100 of

the biggest U.S. retailers yielded results that match this observation. The Global Witness

13 Interview with Ian Smillie, Partnership Africa Canada 14 “Killing Kimberley? Conflict Diamonds and Paper Tigers”, http://pacweb.org/e/ 15 Interview with Ian Smillie, Partnership Africa Canada 16 The Diamond Development Initiative, launched in October 2005, aims to “encourage better work environments and better prices for [diamond] diggers. This will involve education for miners, access to credit and artisanal mining equipment, training in diamond valuation, government intervention to help streamline marketing, and improved labour laws” (PAC, http://blooddiamond.pacweb.org/ddi/).


report indicates that only 38% of jewellers surveyed were able to identify the Kimberly

Process.17

2.2 The Public Awareness Pathway

The policy pathway described

above is fundamentally related

to public awareness. Greater

public awareness, and the

consumer action that might

follow, is the ‘results chain’

which the diamond industry

feared the movie would trigger. The carefully built character of diamonds could be damaged,

and consumer boycotts could damage diamond sales. Have their fears been justified?

What has been the film’s reach?

The movie Blood Diamond has not been a major box-office hit by Hollywood

standards, spending only two weeks in the top 10 in the US.18 However, the movie has

performed significantly better internationally, where most of its financial return (63.5%) was

earned in its first 14 weeks in theatres.19 Media coverage of the film has been extensive, with

discussion on major networks in North America and Europe, where most diamonds are

purchased. We can surmise that, as a result of news coverage on the film and occasional

celebrity statements, exposure to this issue will occur for a much larger group of people who

17 Global Witness, http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/519/en/global_witness_amnesty_international_us_diamond_re 18 Blood Diamond: Box Office Summary. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_diamond/numbers.php 19 Worldwide Box Office Grosses: Recent Releases. http://www.boxofficeguru.com/intl.htm

People view the film

People see media coverage on film

People see celebrity activism

Emotional response

Interest is generatedSeek out further info

Public Response:Donate $

Write lettersTalk to friends

Boycott diamonds

Kimberley Process

strengthened

Movie production and

distribution


have not seen, and perhaps never will see, the film itself. Larger numbers of people will likely

view the film, over time, through the DVD release.

What is the audience’s initial response to the film?

The findings of our survey and case study interview suggest that the movie has an

emotional impact on viewers which is likely to cause them to re-consider purchasing or

receiving a diamond, if they had previously been considering it. Those who already had no

intention of owning a diamond felt re-affirmed in their decision by the film. A majority of

respondents to our survey indicated they had heard about conflict diamonds before seeing

the film, but often did not know much about it, and most had never heard of the Kimberley

Process before. Some highlights from the survey, based on 15 respondents:

• A large majority (85%) reported their awareness of conflict diamonds increased a

little or a lot;

• Nearly three-quarters (71%) reported that their awareness of the Kimberley

Process increased a little or a lot;

• Over 90% reported that since watching the movie they might (50%) or definitely

would (43%) be more likely to discuss this issue with friends or family who were

considering purchasing or receiving a diamond.

Does the movie cause viewers to take action, such as seeking out further information?

Despite viewers’ emotional response to the film, about two-thirds of survey

respondents had not sought out further information since watching the film. However, since

a majority of respondents indicated they had changed their perspective on purchasing or

receiving a diamond, this suggests that viewers are likely to move directly from viewing the

film to taking action in the form of purchasing decisions, without necessarily seeking out

further information (as hypothesized in our Program Theory model). This echoes a


statement made by the director of the film, Edward Zwick, who noted that: “I tend to see

things as my audience does, in terms of right and wrong, and most of all as a set of moral

choices”.20 If this represents a typical viewer response, there could be ramifications for the

work of organizations such as Partnership Africa Canada, who are proposing that the

production of diamonds be used as a tool for development amongst small-scale artisanal

diamond diggers in Africa.

Partnership Africa Canada’s website has received about three times as many visitors

since the movie was released, peaking during separate film releases in North America and

Europe.21 This suggests that many viewers (though likely a minority) do seek out further

information, ultimately increasing their likelihood to make financial donations or undertake

other forms of advocacy like letter writing.

While viewers may respond to the film, US pre-Christmas jewellery sales did not give

the diamond industry cause for concern. Partnership Africa Canada reports that diamond

sales “were actually up over 2005 – just as the film was hitting its stride at the box office”.22

It is possible that the damage control undertaken by the diamond industry proved to be

effective in this case, and perhaps diamond sales would have been even higher without the

release of the film. However, Blood Diamond opened only on December 9th, 2006, and any real

impact on diamond sales can only be assessed over a longer period of time, as greater

numbers of people see the film. Interviews with local diamond retailers suggested that it is

still rare for diamond shoppers to inquire about the conflict diamond issue.

20 “Thinking About Diamonds” 21 Personal correspondence with Ian Smillie, Research Director, Partnership Africa Canada 22 Other Facets: March 2007


3 Implications and Recommendations for Practitioners 3.1 Implications of the Blood Diamond experience

Diamonds are a unique commodity, and the issue of ‘blood diamonds’ is much more

specific than such campaigns as ‘Make Poverty History’ or those regarding HIV/AIDS. The

concentration of the industry means that noteworthy players such as De Beers take their

public reputation very seriously, and can influence international policy in this area. Blood

Diamond was released, coincidentally, at an opportune time in which it could exert a policy

impact on the faltering Kimberley Process deliberations. It is unlikely that circumstances like

these would often be repeated for other development issues or campaigns.

Despite these constraints, the Blood Diamond case offers much to inform practitioners

engaging in the use of films or celebrities to promote development issues or campaigns. The

first is the consideration of whether to pursue the use of such media in policy advocacy

efforts, which depends on what the campaign is trying to achieve.

If you build it, they will come…but context is essential

NGOs are often faced with the dilemma of whether it is worth the investment to

engage in large-scale public awareness campaigns, or whether to strategically focus on policy-

makers. The Blood Diamond case suggests that public awareness is what gives strategic policy

efforts room for manoeuvre. For the diamond industry, it was the anticipation of a public

backlash, rather than the evidence of one, that provoked a response. Key to this success,

however, was the long-standing work of several NGOs in promoting the Kimberley Process

and an active engagement with the diamond industry. This meant that NGOs were well

placed to work with the policy potential of this film.


In contrast, the 2005 film The Constant Gardener, which also documented a travesty of

human rights in Africa by corrupt officials and international corporations, did not achieve

obvious policy influence. Although the film was compelling, it did not “fit neatly into an

existing campaign”, which weakened the potential it might have had for policy impact.23

Researchers examining the social impact of Canadian documentaries would agree, noting

that “for the most effective follow-through to action, films usually need to be part of a larger

social group, movement or campaign”.24

Shelf life: finding enduring impacts

In that same study, the researchers also concluded that documentaries have their

“most enduring impact through the education system” and that “a film’s shelf life can go on

for decades”.25 We must be cautious in judging the full impact of a newly released film on

public awareness by counting diamond sales or website traffic, since many more people will

view the film over an extended period of time through the DVD release. Interestingly,

Amnesty International has already developed a curriculum guide to accompany the film,26

which suggests potential for the film to reach into the education system.

Unleashing the genie: unintended outcomes

While Blood Diamond touched viewers with the drama of conflict diamonds and war in

Sierra Leone, it did not leave survey respondents with a good understanding or sense of faith

in the Kimberley Process. Viewers took home the message that there are still too many

conflict diamonds in the market, and that the safest thing to do is not to buy diamonds (or

to buy only Canadian diamonds).27 This, however, is not the message that Partnership Africa

23 Interview with Ian Smillie, Partnership Africa Canada 24 Breaking New Ground 6 25 ibid 26 Companion Curriculum to Blood Diamond, http://www.amnestyusa.org/blooddiamond/ 27 71% of survey respondents reported that there were “still too many conflict diamonds in the market”


Canada would highlight: they are interested in seeing small-scale African diamond miners

receive more benefits for their communities from their diamond resources. As well, some

Sierra Leoneans feel their self-esteem, reputation, and potentially their economy, could be

damaged by this film depicting a situation which has since ended.28 It is often not possible

for an NGO to completely control the content or messages emerging from various forms of

media, or the actions of a celebrity partner.

3.2 Recommendations for Practitioners

Evaluating the impact of Blood Diamond has demonstrated the potential of media such

as film to have a significant policy impact, and an influence on public awareness. It has also

highlighted a lack of a systematic approach to evaluating the social impact of ‘big budget’

Hollywood-style films. Some parallels can be drawn with the social impact research done on

documentary films, but Hollywood films tend to lack the grassroots social grounding which

“can mobilize communities and…build new community partnerships”.29 At the same time,

they do have the “resources to achieve distribution and outreach”30 on a much larger scale.

To further evaluation practices in this field, we recommend:

• Comparing the results of research on the social impact of documentaries31 with the

social impact of Hollywood films with similar messages, and undertaking a

retrospective analysis of the longer-term social impacts of films from the past

• Developing a series of indicators and measurements for evaluating social impact of

film more generally, with suggestions on adapting or creating issue-specific indicators

28 Interview with Ian Smillie, Partnership Africa Canada 29 Breaking New Ground 7 30 ibid 31 Described in Breaking New Ground


• Take advantage of the powerful tools of new media for evaluation purposes:

SurveyMonkey, tracking website traffic, and news gathering services such as Google

alerts (www.google.com/alerts)

• For the study of Blood Diamond in particular, we recommend that the potential impact

on African diamond-producing countries be examined, particularly Sierra Leone

For those considering the use of films and associated celebrities as part of their campaign

planning, we recommend:

• Careful consideration of the context and potential for policy impact: can the film fit

into a pre-existing social movement or campaign structure, and is the timing

appropriate for taking advantage of policy opportunities?

• Search for enduring impacts with a view to the long-term shelf life of the film, and

seek to have the film play a role in school-related curriculum

• Beware of unintended outcomes: pilot test new initiatives on the public to confirm

the messages that emerge

Perhaps the final word should go to the director of the film, Edward Zwick, who has said

that:

The most that a film can do is present a set of iconic images to the culture, and precipitate thought, debate and conversation that add to a collective consciousness about a problem. Change happens when a rising tide of voices apply themselves, and the aggregate of all those voices and concerns reach a tipping point. So this movie is only one very small part of what I hope is a very large concern.32

32 Other Facets Newsletter, http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/other_facets-23.pdf


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Amnesty International. Companion Curriculum to Blood Diamond. Amnesty International

USA Human Rights Education Program. http://www.amnestyusa.org/blooddiamond/.

Babbie, Earl and Lucia Benaquisto. Fundamentals of Social Research. Nelson Canada,

Scarborough: 2002. ERIN Research Inc. Breaking New Ground: a framework for measuring the social impact of

Canadian documentaries. National Film Board: April 2005. Global Witness/ Amnesty International US Diamond Retail Survey 2007

http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/519/en/global_witness_amnesty_international_us_diamond_re

Partnership Africa Canada, http://www.pacweb.org/ Partnership Africa Canada. “Other Facets” newsletter. No 23, March 2007.

http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/other_facets-23.pdf. Partnership Africa Canada. “Killing Kimberley? Conflict Diamonds and Paper Tigers”. Nov

2006. http://pacweb.org/e/ Rotten Tomatoes. Blood Diamond: Box Office Summary.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_diamond/numbers.php Smillie, Ian. Personal interview. March 7, 2007. Survey Monkey, www.surveymonkey.com U.N. Document- Conflict Diamonds, Online:

http://www.un.org/peace/africa/Diamond.html Worldwide Box Office Grosses: Recent Releases. http://www.boxofficeguru.com/intl.htm World Diamond Council, http://diamondfacts.org/ Zwick, Edward. “Thinking About Diamonds”. Edward Zwick. Speech given at the Rapaport

International Diamond Conference, New York, Feb. 5, 2007. http://blooddiamond.pacweb.org/thinkingaboutdiamonds/


Appendix A: The Logic Model

A theory of change: two pathways

Movie production

and distribution

Diamond industry anticipates public awareness and

bad publicity

Diamond industry responds to NGO pressure and re-affirms Kimberley

Process

Kimberley Process

strengthened

People view the film

People see media coverage on film

People see celebrity activism

Emotional response

Interest is generatedSeek out further info

Public Response:Donate $

Write lettersTalk to friends

Boycott diamonds

NGO pressure on diamond industry


Appendix B: Detailed Summary of Findings

Case Study – Detailed Summary Subject: Male, age 29, Ottawa Our case study subject was born and raised in Ottawa and works full-time at a building products company. He was first exposed to the issue of conflict diamonds in a high school ‘World Issues’ class in the mid-1990s. He found the issue interesting, but it was not something he felt he “needed to do something about” at the time. However, being aware that there were large diamond producers in Africa, and that violence and corruption were often associated with diamonds, he wanted to be certain that any diamond he might purchase in future was conflict-free. As a result, he has come to feel strongly that he would only purchase a Canadian diamond. After watching Blood Diamond, over 10 years after first being exposed to the issue, our case study subject finds that the movie re-affirms his commitment to buying only Canadian diamonds. He had been aware before watching the movie that there was some kind of diamond certification process, although he did not recall the title ‘Kimberley Process’ before or after watching the film. Despite this, he feels that there are likely still too many conflict diamonds in the market, and feels any certification process is unlikely to be very successful. He sees the situation as “a vicious circle - it doesn’t matter who’s in power…other people will step in and do it [abusing diamond resources] again”. He was left with some cynicism after watching the movie. He recognizes the seriousness of the issue, but describes the movie as “Hollywood glamorization of guilt”. He believes that most people are not aware of the issue of conflict diamonds, and that it seems to ‘require Hollywood’ to get it out into the public eye. However, the movie demonstrates that conflict diamonds are now “a bandwagon cause” which is coming too late to make any difference to the situation in the 1990s, much like the movie Hotel Rwanda came too late to avert the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Furthermore, as the movie is a big-budget Hollywood film with a big star, rather than a documentary, he feels the movie producers are “praying on the situation to make money”. He questions why the movie industry is not making films like this about current issues such as the genocide in Sudan. Despite these feelings of cynicism, the movie has highlighted the issue for him again, and he feels it does make him want to talk to people about it. He suggests the idea of developing “fair trade diamonds”. Since watching the film, he has not pursued any further research on the topic and is not aware of any celebrity activism around this issue.


Appendix B continued

Focus Group – Detailed Summary Questions:

1. Did you know about the issue of conflict diamonds before watching the movie? 2. Overall, how did the movie make you feel? a) depressed b) helpless c) angry d)

indifferent

3. Do you now think that conflict diamonds are: a) still a big problem b) somewhat of a problem c) not a problem at all anymore

4. Now that you have seen the movie, will you want to get more information about the

issue?

5. Has the movie affected how you feel about diamonds and if so, how? Results: Due to the maturity level of the focus group participants the focus group only lasted for thirty minutes. The participants all knew each other, and knew the facilitator as well. None of them took the activity very seriously. Most of the participants laughed throughout the movie, and continued to giggle during the question period. Group think set in, and as soon as one participant began to give joke answers to the questions, the others followed suit. Although the focus group did not go as intended, the responses do contribute to the overall project since they illustrate that age is an important consideration, also that movies will not be received in the same way by all members of the audience. Certainly there will be people who, due to the circumstances under which they are viewing the film, or their own personal characteristics, will not be impacted emotionally as the researchers had predicted.


Appendix C: The On-Line Survey When did you watch the movie Blood Diamond?

Within the last few weeks Within the last few months I haven’t watched the movie

How would you describe your awareness of ‘conflict’ or ‘blood’ diamonds before watching the movie?

I had never heard the term ‘conflict diamond’ or ‘blood diamond’ before I had heard of this issue, but I didn’t know much about it I was already familiar with this issue

How would you describe your awareness of the Kimberley Process before watching the movie?

I had never heard about the Kimberley Process before I had heard of the Kimberley Process, but I didn’t know much about it I was already familiar with the goals of the Kimberley Process I don’t know what the Kimberley Process is

How has your awareness of ‘conflict diamonds’ or the ‘Kimberley Process’ changed since watching the movie? Conflict diamonds Kimberley Process My awareness has not changed My awareness has increased a little My awareness has increased alot Have you ever considered purchasing or receiving a diamond?

No Yes

Has your perspective on purchasing or receiving a diamond changed as a result of watching the movie Blood Diamond?

No Yes Maybe

Please explain why your perspective has or has not changed. Have you sought out further information on conflict diamonds since watching the movie? (for example, doing an internet search)

No Yes

Since watching the movie, do you think you would be more likely to discuss this issue with friends or family who were considering purchasing or receiving a diamond?


It would definitely be more likely It might be more likely It would not be any more likely

Did the movie leave you with the impression that:

The problem of conflict diamonds seems to have been taken care of There are still too many conflict diamonds in the commercial market Other (please specify)

Weblink for survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=28323419155


Appendix D: The Movement Surrounding the Film

The diagram visually illustrates what occurred after the release of the film Blood Diamond. The three main actors in the film, DiCaprio, Hounsou and Connolly were involved in some activism although most of it was based around the advertising for the movie and the movie’s premiere. DiCaprio and Hounsou appeared on the Oprah show and spoke about the issue of conflict diamonds, among other things. Hounsou was at the premiere of the film at the United Nations and he sat on a panel of experts which discussed the issues presented by the film, following its showing. At the film’s premiere in Los Angeles, all three of the film’s stars wore the “Blood Diamond/ Clean Diamond” awareness bracelets which were designed and sold by Amnesty International. The pictures from the premiere and a short story about the awareness bracelets were published in People magazine. Leonardo DiCaprio also told People magazine that since filming the movie Blood Diamond he would never purchase diamonds for anyone other than his mother. Other initiatives which developed at the same time as the movie or as a result of the movie were documentaries, the film Ezra and Russell Simmons’ Diamond Empowerment Fund. The three documentaries which came out as a result of the movie Blood Diamond are:

• History Channel’s “Blood Diamonds”, which looks to some of the world's foremost experts for the facts of the history of the diamond trade, as well as interviewing both the victims and perpetrators of diamond-fueled atrocities in countries like Sierra Leone.

The MovementBlood Diamond Movie

Di Caprio

Hounsou ConnollyOprah

United Nations

Will not purchase diamonds.

=Movie Premiere: Red Bracelets

Documentaries

Bling’d

Blood on a Stone

Blood Diamonds

Ezra

“Green” the Diamond Empowerment Fund – Simmons Jewelry

Other initiatives:

Featured in People Magazine


• VH1’s "Bling'd: Blood, Diamonds, and Hip Hop", an upcoming film that takes a hard-hitting look at the illegal diamond trade in Sierra Leone, West Africa and how ‘blinging’ in the flashy world of commercial hip-hop played a role in the 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002.

• CNN’s “Blood on a Stone”, which was filmed in conjunction with the movie Blood Diamond and was suppose to air right before the Hollywood film’s release in North America, in order to set the stage for the feature film. As it aired only a few weeks before this study was completed, not a lot of information on the film was available.

The African film Ezra deals with the subject of child soldiers and touches on the issue of

conflict diamonds and its effects on civilians. This film premiered at the SunDance Film Festival, but was not widely shown in the North American market.

“Green”, which is Russell Simmons’ Diamond Empowerment Fund, raises money for

the development and empowerment of the people and communities in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource. The Diamond Empowerment Fund is a non-profit international organization established by individuals and businesses in the diamond industry.

Documents

Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts · 2017-05-23 · Blood Diamond: evaluating the impacts 4 Executive Summary In December of 2006, a Hollywood feature film called Blood Diamond